“Vacation is like using a Band-Aid to cover an ax cut. You go to places where you will never be able to live to lead a lifestyle that you cannot afford and then you come back and on the news they talk about 'post-vacation syndrome'. "Actually, what they should say is 'your life is so horrible that you get depressed when you have to go back to it after two weeks of fantasy.'" These are words that could be on the lips of any mortal with work obligations, but they are one of the great phrases uttered by Marisa, a publicist in her thirties who survives her life and work crisis based on Orfidales, and who stars in El discontent (Themes from today).
It is the first novel by the journalist Beatriz Serrano (Madrid, 1989). In it she masterfully portrays, through Marisa and her work tedium, situations that most readers of any generation can identify in her lives. Absurd work meetings, harmful colleagues, mediocre bosses, lost friendships, loneliness, addiction to social networks, the doubt about whether we are leading the life we really want... Serrano, who has just presented his novel in Barcelona, serves us over a morning coffee (without Orfidal), before taking the AVE back to Madrid, where she and Marisa also live.
Do you think that the discontent that gives the title to your book is generational, as they say, or do many of its ingredients already transcend age?
The discontent is intergenerational. In my generation there has been an economic crisis that has caused salaries to drop, while the prices of housing or life have risen. But the theme the book deals with is restlessness. Is life about packing the bin, working, going to the supermarket and watching a Netflix series? That is the big question. I think that's not generational.
Do people of your generation express boredom more?
Millennials are the generation of constant expression: blogs, Fotolog, social networks... And yes, there is more talk now about this fatigue, as there is also more talk about mental health. 30 years ago depression was hidden, but it was there. The same thing happens with discontent: my generation expresses it, but it was always there.
Marisa, your protagonist, can't fall asleep without YouTube. To what extent is dependence on networks a cause and part of this discontent?
Marisa is very alone. She is a reflection of society that is so individualistic and so little community. If you live in a big city, you might not know your neighbors because maybe they are Airbnb tourists. My protagonist uses YouTube to silence her inner demons. Other people binge-watch Netflix, others scroll endlessly until they fall asleep... We abuse the easiest entertainment to escape and stop thinking about our reality. If you add to that the jobs that take away your time and hours with friends... We are causing ourselves a loneliness that is too noisy, full of things around us.
Marisa is alone, she has a fuck buddy and a supposed new friend... Does loneliness affect all ages?
There is a lot of loneliness, and there are more and more young people alone. After 30 it is very difficult to make new friends. What happens if a person only has fake socialization left, at work or online? The person breaks and this works for everyone. I wanted to explain that if we do not take care of the links and do not have a society of more collective, community support, we are lost. This is the true loss of humanity.
The work environment in the company in this book is imposed, orthopedic, toxic at times... Our daily bread?
I believe that the work environment is the only place where we are exposed to violence that does not occur anywhere else. If a boyfriend makes you cry, your friend tells you to leave him now. On the other hand, it is natural for someone to yell at you or treat you badly at work. We allow hidden and subtle workplace violence, which takes its toll, and this is an abusive relationship with an entity that makes you an income in return at the end of the month.
What do you think of the story about the loss of the culture of effort in the new generations? In an interview you said that now we fantasize about being civil servants...
I don't mean that in the sense of not trying hard or being lazy. People want to have stability. My friends are trying to get an opposition because they have been fired from advertising agencies or media outlets. And they are fed up. They want to know that they will make an effort to study, but they will have a place, and this will give them peace of mind. They will be paid at the end of the month and will be able to afford an apartment, a life plan, have strict schedules and a personal life without work calls outside of work hours.
Marisa is not overwhelmed by her work, the idea of having to work kills her. And she wanders to weather the storm... Do we have to do it a little more?
I'm totally upset with people being lazy. We tend to give a lot more at work, and if you give a lot, they don't reward you, they give you more tasks. Trends such as 'lazy girl jobs' or the so-called 'silent resignation' are emerging, which is nothing more than working the hours they pay you by contract. “Look, they do their hours and leave!” some said, as if self-exploitation were normal: doing more and more. These people of silent renunciation do their hours. I am a fan of laziness and doing only what you have to.
If you have this conception, it seems that you are not motivated... The North American journalist specialist Sarah Jaffe says that the vocation leads to self-exploitation. Do you agree?
Yes. In the book I wanted to address the issue of identity, how much we put into our work. I can't stand being asked what your name is, and then asking, “What do you do?”, referring to work. It's such an open-ended question that you could answer "I'm learning to make cupcakes." The way of saying “I am a journalist”, “I am a doctor”, as a definition of the person. Out of classism, snobbery or interest, you present yourself like this; but you don't look at the other person the same if he says that he is a fruit seller. Feeling so identified with your vocation, which is what is going to make you money, generates exploitation. It's sad that we feel like we can't fulfill ourselves through things that don't have to do with work. Can't you find fulfillment in writing or picking flowers and making twigs? This is very sad; Living is already a vocation.
They teach us to fulfill ourselves with things that make money...
The idea of money for money's sake, like in the movie 'The Triangle of Sadness', where the captain of the ship says that "growing for the sake of growing is the spirit of capitalism and it is also the way in which cancer proliferates, growing." Has no sense. We have combined passion with identity and production. We even tried to capitalize on our hobbies: “and what you do, why don't you sell it on Etsy?”, and maybe you just wanted to pick daisies, not sell the bouquets.
You talk about “playing office”. Are many of our current jobs not useful for much, are they of little use, really?
I got the thing about the little offices from playing house, when you repeated what you saw the adults doing. In many offices it is the same, for example, repeating corporate terminology in English: “I have to manage a talent”, “you give it to me ASAP”… These people cannot be taking themselves seriously, they are interpreting or They are idiots! There are many imposed things and ways of relating: “have a coffee and I'll tell you”, “I have a little meeting”… In fact, many times you are not working. The book Shitty Jobs by David Graeber talks about this capitalist market. You're supposed to get the maximum profit with the minimum expense, and there are a lot of people walking around the office. Likewise in large corporations there are plenty of people. Or things could be done in four hours a day, instead of eight.
Marisa lives on Orfidal. Psychotropic drugs are present on many people's nightstands. Have we also normalized them, introducing them into our daily lives?
We have assumed this and see it as normal. People of any age do it, even my grandmother. I was very interested in putting legal and illegal drugs, prescription and recreational drugs, on the same level. I think there is a punitive and punishing idea of recreational drugs. After the 80s and the effects of heroin, a lot of silence has been created. It is done, but at the same time it is frowned upon to take drugs, it cannot be said. On the other hand, it seems normal to us to take an Orfidal if we are nervous. This seems scandalous to me. Do we lose respect for them because a pharmacist gives it to us and not a drug dealer? Isn't taking an Orfidal from Monday to Friday with the alcohol before going to work the same as taking drugs on Friday to disconnect until Sunday? They are two different solutions to the same problem. They are anesthesia.
Marisa and her entourage, or we, journalists, have a liberal vocational profession. A person who earns the minimum wage, has three children and lives in a precarious apartment in a suburban neighborhood will surely think that Marisa's life is pure fantasy. When she wants to give herself some joy, she goes to buy some oysters and some cheeses for dinner... she is still a tormented posh.
Completely. I thought a lot about where Marisa should be in the company, at what level of the social pyramid. I wanted to ignore the issue of precariousness so as not to mix topics. I want to talk about the precariousness and psychological bitterness in relatively privileged people, the dissatisfaction of this so-called crystal generation, with so many depressed, unhappy people.
